Board meeting should be open to club membership, and if there is anything that has to be discussed that must be kept to the board members alone, then the board should go to an 'executive session' where only the board members are allowed to be present.

In the club that I belonged to, such a procedure was carried out, and members had the right--after being recognized by the board chairman--to make one statement on a subject. No general discussion from non-board members was allowed, however, unless the matter was brought to the attention of the full club at a general meeting.

If the club is incorporated, the board meetings have to be open to the membership....unless they go into executive session. Check the Attorney General rules of your state for more info.

They cannot keep out members if they are incorporated. They MAY be able to keep non members out except press members.....

Depending on the state and on the way the incorporation documents are written, they may or may not be able to keep members out, and the same is true for non-members and the press. I've underlined the part of your statement that IS true--check with the attorney general's office of the state the club is incorporated in.

As President of the Roanoke Valley ARC, W4CA our board meetings are open to the public unless we have to go into a closed meeting for personnel issues, voting someone out, and that's it. All of our meetings run by Robert's Rules.

I recently resigned from the Board of a local club after being accused of "discussing" matters taken up in a Board meeting. Although not in the club by laws, I was told that this was a verbal agreement amongst the Board, although I was never told of it. What it amounted to was crossing swords with an internal power clique and this was their way of maintaining control.

I've never seen a volunteer group work effectively under such a "blackout" mentality.

I absolutely agree that board meetings should be open, but unfortunately most of them or more like bored meetings instead of board meetings!

What a shame about your experience with your BoD. As far as these "verbal agreements" are concerned, one of the most valuable business lessons I have ever learned is, "If it ain't in writing, it never happened!"

As far as "leadership styles", it has been my experience that people get elected to high office because they are willing to take the position when no one else is willing to step up to the plate and put themselves in the spotlight, not because they have any particular skill or experience that will best serve the club. With notable exceptions such as mega-clubs like the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, most clubs are small time social organizations... which is what it should be. They should be a place where like-minded people gather to enjoy each others camaraderie and fellowship and work towards common goals.

I am also pretty sure that most clubs are run like the one I used to belong to. I was president of a fair-sized club (about 100 members) for two years and I found that being president of a large club that has been in existence for a long time is like being the Queen of England. Sure, she is the head of the government and theoretically has the final word, but the day to day business of running the country is actually handled by the Parliament. Similarly, most clubs are actually run by the "elders". In many cases, this isn't necessarily a bad thing since they won't let you stray too far off the mark and fall flat on your face.

Some people just take the job too seriously. C'mon, its just a radio club! Lighten up! Sometimes being president or taking some other leadership role of a club can surely be a PITA at times, but overall it should be fun and enjoyable. But that being said, I was not all the sad to turn my gavel of authority over to the next "victim" once my rein of terror was done!

"Some people just take the job too seriously. C'mon, its just a radio club! Lighten up! Sometimes being president or taking some other leadership role of a club can surely be a PITA at times, but overall it should be fun and enjoyable. But that being said, I was not all the sad to turn my gavel of authority over to the next "victim" once my rein of terror was done!"

I cannot image the news media even covering a ham radio club meeting, unless there was something extremely pertinent or the reporters were specifically invited. Sadly (or not), most news media people have no idea what ham radio is.

Board meetings should be open to the general membership, with voting done only by the board members during those sessions. Matters discussed there should then be brought to the general membership meeting per the bylaws of the club.

Another advantage of opening the board meetings is that potential new board members can be encouraged to sit on the board in the future, keeping the board from becoming "stale".

I recently resigned from the Board of a local club after being accused of "discussing" matters taken up in a Board meeting. Although not in the club by laws, I was told that this was a verbal agreement amongst the Board, although I was never told of it. What it amounted to was crossing swords with an internal power clique and this was their way of maintaining control.

I've never seen a volunteer group work effectively under such a "blackout" mentality.

FrankK4FMH

Not uncommon at all, unfortunately. Radio clubs have their core people who maintain control by appointing or nominating each other to the leadership positions. It;s an impenetrable barrier that has been forged over time. I gave up trying to be an "active member" of most radio clubs. The leadership generally frowns upon this behavior. Either you can roll with what they are doing or quit! No input is accepted.

The inner circle IS the club. They do quite a bit "behind the scenes" with each other that is not to be spoken of to the general membership. That's just the way it is, I guess...

I cannot image the news media even covering a ham radio club meeting, unless there was something extremely pertinent or the reporters were specifically invited.

I'm currently in a ham course for the basic Canadian license. (I challenged the exam early so I already have my call, but I'm still attending anyway.)

At our first class, three different reporters - from Global, CTV and CBC - came to the class to check it out. No idea if they were invited or not, or just chose to came, but they all came and filed stories on it.

Thanks for the posting. I don't disagree with our shared observation that this is commonplace but I wonder if the way it "is" is due to a lack of leadership experience in other successful volunteer groups? I'd like to think that leadership training on how successful volunteer groups in general function (outside or inside of ham radio) would change things.

The Delta Division of ARRL had its first leadership development seminar, taught for free by the state Extension Service, at the Mississippi Section ARRL annual convention in January. Director David Norris K5UZ plans to hold them in other Division states in the coming months. It's a start!

I recently resigned from the Board of a local club after being accused of "discussing" matters taken up in a Board meeting. Although not in the club by laws, I was told that this was a verbal agreement amongst the Board, although I was never told of it. What it amounted to was crossing swords with an internal power clique and this was their way of maintaining control.

I've never seen a volunteer group work effectively under such a "blackout" mentality.

FrankK4FMH

Not uncommon at all, unfortunately. Radio clubs have their core people who maintain control by appointing or nominating each other to the leadership positions. It;s an impenetrable barrier that has been forged over time. I gave up trying to be an "active member" of most radio clubs. The leadership generally frowns upon this behavior. Either you can roll with what they are doing or quit! No input is accepted.

The inner circle IS the club. They do quite a bit "behind the scenes" with each other that is not to be spoken of to the general membership. That's just the way it is, I guess...

Thanks for the posting. I don't disagree with our shared observation that this is commonplace but I wonder if the way it "is" is due to a lack of leadership experience in other successful volunteer groups? I'd like to think that leadership training on how successful volunteer groups in general function (outside or inside of ham radio) would change things.

The Delta Division of ARRL had its first leadership development seminar, taught for free by the state Extension Service, at the Mississippi Section ARRL annual convention in January. Director David Norris K5UZ plans to hold them in other Division states in the coming months. It's a start!

FrankK4FMH

The ARRL has a guideline PDF for club leadership that I perused while I was in office. It seemed almost pessimistic about how much participation that I could expect.Sadly. it was spot on.

Also, you may have extraordinary leadership skills, but if you never get the opportunity to be in the forefront, due to a "rigged" leadership structure, there isn't much you will be able to do. Most of them are way too political behind the curtain.

A successful club I have come to believe is not by design, but serendipitous, with the right mix of people that happens to make it work.

I'm a baby ham... so I don't have a lot of experience, but much of it has been bad.

I've thought of forming an "association" instead of a formal corporation to focus on just getting new ham's started in the hobby. So after I've got a few more years under my belt, I may just found something specifically aimed at people seeking a license and/or getting started with one.

Keep the focus really tight on just one thing, so results are measurable, and politics kept to a minimum. I spent 7 years as a non profit executive, that seemed to be a philosophy which worked.

Logged

Putting a Shatnerologist in a room full of ordinary people is like putting a velociraptor in a room full of wiener dogs.

I'm a baby ham... so I don't have a lot of experience, but much of it has been bad.

I've thought of forming an "association" instead of a formal corporation to focus on just getting new ham's started in the hobby. So after I've got a few more years under my belt, I may just found something specifically aimed at people seeking a license and/or getting started with one.

Keep the focus really tight on just one thing, so results are measurable, and politics kept to a minimum. I spent 7 years as a non profit executive, that seemed to be a philosophy which worked.

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